Fired memo author sues Google alleging discrimination against conservative white men

James Damore, the programmer who was fired from Google last year after circulating a memo that argued women are less biologically suited for tech jobs, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging that it discriminates against conservative white men.

Damore and David Gudeman, another former Google engineer, filed the lawsuit in Santa Clara Superior Court on Monday on behalf of all current and former employees who have been discriminated against for being white, male, conservative or a combination of the three.

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“Damore, Gudeman, and other class members were ostracized, belittled, and punished for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males,” the 62-page lawsuit reads. “This is the essence of discrimination—Google formed opinions about and then treated Plaintiffs not based on their individual merits, but rather on their membership in groups with assumed characteristics.”

Damore was fired in August after his internal memo leaked.

His firing prompted an outcry on the right, which saw the move as proof the tech industry suppresses conservative voices.

Damore’s memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” argued that the internet search giant’s efforts to improve diversity among its software engineers was misguided. He wrote that gender disparities in the industry were due to men being more biologically suited for programming work, with women more likely to suffer from neuroticism and have lower thresholds for stress.

Damore alleges in the court filing that he was mocked and insulted by coworkers for the views expressed in the memo.

In one email included in the lawsuit, a coworker wrote to Damore, “Feel free to pass this along to HR. Keep them in the loop for all I care. May as well do it early. You’re a misogynist and a terrible human. I will keep hounding you until one of us is fired. F**k you.”

Damore’s lawsuit comes just days after former female employees filed their own revised lawsuit against Google alleging gender pay disparities at the company.

This story was updated at 3:13 p.m.

James Damore Lawsuit by M Mali on Scribd